- rape / sexual assault

RAPE / SEXUAL ASSAULT

Like many other autonomous women’s groups in the country, our work on the issue of rape emerged out of the deeply distressing court judgments ministered in the cases of Mathura, Rameezabi and Maya Tyagi. While nationwide agitations led to significant changes in the Criminal Procedure Code and Indian Penal Code, shortcomings in the law and pitfalls in its implementation have continued to pose challenges. Helping rape victims gave us a finer understanding of the issues which subvert the process of securing justice. It also became increasingly self evident that the law must go beyond traditional definitions of penile-vaginal ‘rape’ to a broader understanding of ‘sexual assault’. Saheli was part of the Committee constituted by National Commission of Women in 1990s that evolved significant changes in the rape law. Today, along with other women’s groups, queer groups and child rights’ groups, we are involved in a process of evolving far reaching modifications in the Criminal Law Amendment Bill proposed by the government to address issues hitherto inadequately addressed by the law: eg. Mass sexual assault in situations of conflict and/or mass/ethnic/communal violence, and sexual assault on persons other than women such as hijras, transgender people, men and so on. Beyond our work at the policy level, street protests and reaching out on the issue have been important, including a city based campaign “ Stop Rape! Speak Up, Delhi!”